Gamewell Fire Alarm Pull Box

CA Early 1900s. Western Pennsylvania has a rich history in the fire service (There are hundreds of volunteer stations and Pittsburgh is home to the paid IAFF Firefighter’s Union Local #1). So it’s no surprise that we come across a lot of vintage firefighting equipment like this FIRE ALARM PULL BOX. A modernized version of this box can still be found in use today in cities across the country (like Boston to name just one). The boxes use telegraph technology which means they can work without electricity or telephone service. The process actually pre-dates telephones. There are a variety of companies which made these throughout the years but this one is made by the most popular, The Gamewell Co. in New York. If you needed assistance you literally broke out a glass panel, opened the box, and pulled down on a lever which would send a coded telegraph to the local fire department. The firefighters translated the code into two streets, an intersection. They would then go to that location and try to find the fire. Most PA boroughs removed their boxes in the mid 1950s when telephones in the home became more popular. With the invention of cell phones boxes have become hard to find outside of industrial sites. Gamewell had replaced all “break glass” models by 1924 with a simpler and less expensive external pull down lever.